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Dinosaur National Monument Expanding Hours For Travel Season

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Stay at the Split Mountain Campground in Dinosaur Natinoal Monument and you can enjoy this view./Patrick Cone.

Longer days mean more hours to enjoy Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and Colorado.

"We are seeing more people enjoying the monument every day with the warmer weather, and we are looking forward to a busy season ahead,' said acting monument superintendent Mark Foust.

On the Utah side of the monument, the Quarry Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The visitor center features exhibits, a film, sales outlet for the Intermountain Natural History Association, and also serves as the departure point for car caravans to the Quarry Exhibit Hall with the wall of dinosaur fossils and exhibits about dinosaurs. Caravans leave from the visitor center at scheduled times throughout the day.

Starting May 3, a shuttle will transport visitors between the visitor center and exhibit hall on Saturdays and Sundays. Beginning May 17, the shuttle will run daily through September 7. For more information on seeing the dinosaur fossils, please visit the monument website or call (435) 781-7700.

The Split Mountain Group and Green River campgrounds will begin offering water starting this coming Friday, and camping fees will be charged. For the Green River Campground, the fee is $12 per night, per site. The Split Mountain Group Campground has four group sites that can each accommodate up to 25 people and six vehicles. The fee for Split Mountain is $25 per site, per night.

Reservations are accepted for sites at Split Mountain and Green River Campgrounds through the online system managed by Recreation.gov or by calling 1 (877) 444-6777 (10 a.m. - Midnight, EST). Split Mountain and Green River Campgrounds are located approximately four miles east of the Quarry Visitor Center on the Cub Creek road. More information on camping in the monument can be found at this page

On the Colorado side of the monument, the Harpers Corner Road will open on Friday for the season. The Harpers Corner Road is a scenic, 32-mile one-way drive that leaves U.S. Highway 40 two miles east of Dinosaur, Colorado. The Canyon Visitor Center, which is located at the start of the Harpers Corner Road, will open on weekends starting April 12, and daily beginning on May 10.

The Gates of Lodore Campground, located 106 miles north of the Canyon Visitor Center on the Green River, and the Deerlodge Park Campground, located 53 miles east of the Canyon Visitor Center on the Yampa River, will have water available starting May 3.

On May 16, water will be available at the Echo Park Campground, located 38 miles north of the Canyon Visitor Center. Once the water is turned on, camping fees at all three campgrounds will be $8 per site, per night. 

Summary of Campground Information

Campground

Location

Dates

Nightly Fee

Sites

Reservations / Other Information

Green River

4 miles east of Quarry Visitor Center

Open April 4 - October 5, 2014

$12

80

B loop sites are available on Recreation.gov. for peak season;

All other sites are first come, first served

Split Mountain Group

4 miles east of Quarry Visitor Center

Open all year, water available April 4 - Oct. 5, 2014; group campground in summer, open to everyone in off season

$25

4

Available on Recreation.gov for peak season

Rainbow Park

28 miles from the Quarry Visitor Center

Open all year, road may be impassable in winter or after rain

Free

4

First-come, first-served; tent camping only; no water

Echo Park

38 miles north of the Canyon Visitor Center

Open when road to Echo Park is passable, water available May 16 - Sept. 21, 2014

$8.00 for regular & walk-in sites;

$15.00 for group site

22 including 1 group site

First-come, first-served

Deerlodge Park

53 miles east of the Canyon Visitor Center

Open all year, road may be impassable in winter, water available May 3 - July 27, 2014

$8.00

7

First-come, first-served; tent camping only

Gates of Lodore

north end of monument,106 miles north of the Canyon Visitor Center

Open all year, road may be impassable in winter, water available May 3 - Oct. 13, 2014

$8.00

17

first-come, first-served

Entrance fees for Dinosaur National Monument are as follows: $10 per vehicle, valid for up to seven days; $5 per person for someone on a motorcycle or bicycle. Frequent visitors to the monument may want to purchase a Dinosaur Annual Pass for $20.

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